sid_guardian | Discussion: how did you first hear about Guardian, and what made you decide to watch?

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type: fandom discussion

Discussion: how did you first hear about Guardian, and what made you decide to watch?

A friend posted a poll yesterday about what prompts people to try new (fannish) media, and I realised that I don't really know what it was that made my Guardian friends take a chance on Guardian -- ambient squee? a friend's rec? fanworks? something else? Let's talk about it!

Here's my story:

It was 2018, and I'd been in my previous primary fandom, White Collar, for nine years; I was running out of juice there and vaguely looking around for something new. I'd also been watching Kdramas since 2013, so I was comfortable with subtitles, but I hadn't branched out into other Asian dramas. Then someone on my Dreamwidth friends list fell hard for Guardian (the drama, I think). At first, I didn't pay much attention, but they were so enthusiastic, and after a while, I thought it sounded like it might be up my alley? At that stage, I didn't really know anything about it: I wasn't even sure if it was live action, and I didn't have much of a handle on the genre either.

We had our annual local mini fan con in October, and I really hoped someone would do a promo for Guardian and convince me to watch it -- but none of the attendees had seen it. The day after the con, I mentioned this to the Guardian fan on my flist, and they linked me to Fire's Gonna Burn (vid).

My response:

OMG WRIST GRAB! Wow, I would like to subscribe to that vid.
I think I need to ~~find~~ make time to watch this show!!

I came down with con crud, so I spent the next week or so on the couch, watching avidly, falling harder and harder. Being a Kdrama fan, I was unsurprised by the beautiful, reserved, mysterious type (of which Shen Wei is a fantastic example), but scruffy, outrageous and social-engineering Zhao Yunlan was an altogether new experience -- he felt like a combo of Ray Kowalski from Due South and Neal Caffrey from White Collar, ie, tailored perfectly to suit my tastes. Two episodes in, I posted a piscpam of him sprawling.

By episode 8 with the failed book con and his disaster apartment, I was head over heels. And the show itself, starting out as a procedural and with its lovely ensemble, cat shape-shifter and "firehose of slash", was perfect.

I started the drama on 11 October 2018 and finished on 8 November 2018. While watching, I posted to Dreamwidth about it 14 times, including two ficlets (this was my first), one set of 54 icons, some individual screencaps, a recap of episode 8, and a lot of flailing.

I'm currently in a state of nitroglycerine-ishly unstable FEELS and terrified of being spoiled for the last few eps, so please don't say anything.

I taught myself to make animated gifs when I hit the start of episode 7.

And after I finished watching, I was a delirious wreck:

So last Thursday night (was it really less than a week ago?!) I kicked the boy out early and finished watching Guardian, and was consequently overcome with epic feels. Then I read some meta and went to bed. It was super windy so my house shook and rattled all night, and my brain was fizzing, and I got almost no sleep. I still haven't recovered. I keep waking up an hour or two before my alarm, and the Bright-Shiny-Beautiful blooms in my head like a time-lapse sunflower, and a part of me says, "FFS, would you just go back to sleep!" but I can't.

I've never tried the novel. The things I've heard about it suggest it wouldn't be as much to my taste. I'm all drama, all the time: it's my drug of choice. It's a very high quality drug!

Questions
Can you remember where and how you first heard about Guardian? Why did it catch your eye?
Did you start with the drama or the novel? Which is your main focus now (or do you love them both)?
When did you start, and how long did it take you to watch/read all the way through, the first time?
What particularly grabbed you?
Did you make any reaction posts as you watched or read? If so, feel free to quote or link them here.

Note: Discussion contains spoilers for the whole show.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I mentioned this to the Guardian fan on my flist, and they linked me to Fire's Gonna Burn (vid).
My friend got me into Guardian, also using that vid as a bait >.> They were, idk, 10? episodes in at the time. We watched the drama together after that (virtually, as we are many thousands of kilometres apart).

Ha, the vidder should get a toaster oven for recruiting. :D

We watched the drama together after that (virtually, as we are many thousands of kilometres apart).

Oh, nice!! Were you flailing at each other the whole time?

Oh yes! We were on chat the whole time.

That's awesome!

(I never got very good at chat-while-watching, especially when there are subtitles. I think I just don't read fast enough.)

Haha, that is delightful that it was the same vid! :D

My first post about Guardian even says "I'm not sure how or why I even started watching" ... *g*

At the time I was sort of between main fandoms - I was still into all my fandoms, but none was really at the centre of my attention. I'd already tried a few other new things here and there, but none of them hit. No idea why I settled on Guardian - maybe just that the first five episodes were still available on Youtube, so it was easy. (The rest had been taken down at the time, even the international version. It came back a few days after I finished watching.) I didn't expect much - I was ill one day and just wanted something to distract me. So I put it on and let it play.

And it hit me so hard. Five episodes in, I was 100% sold and in love, and I couldn't stop. IIRC I got to about episode 15 on the first day, and then on the second I did literally nothing else, other than watch and eat and sleep, and so I managed to finish all 40 episodes in two days.

And once I'd started, I immediately went back to the beginning and watched again.

What hooked me? Everything. From the characters (especially Shen Wei, powerful and reticent, sometimes severe, sometimes kind, with a big secret he's keeping for a reason, and with a bit of a trollish streak) - to the time travel moebius strip relationship between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, to the mutants-and-bigotry-and-prejudice themes to the way the show really commits to its characters and relationships and themes, unapologetically leans into all of its tropes and extracts the maximum of effect out of all of it. And then the ending! Wringing triumph out of death! Both of them choosing to sacrifice themselves! And promising to find each other again ... how could I not love all of that? It was practically made for me. ♥ ♥ ♥

Looking back at my early opinions now, there was a lot of detail in the drama I missed or didn't understand, in part because the original subs weren't great, in part because some things just need a rewatch, and in part because I find subs difficult in general. (My eyes are always drawn to text on the screen, so if there are subs, I will miss a lot of other stuff that's going on. Thankfully rewatching helps with that. *g*)

I've read the novel, too, but it didn't grab me nearly in the same way - especially the early way Zhao Yunlan pursued Shen Wei did not appeal to me at all, and in general I just prefer the drama's characters and worldbuilding and themes, all of which hit my preferences in ways the novel's don't.

Edited 2024-03-10 20:27 (UTC)

Also, just saying:

I came down with con crud, so I spent the next week or so on the couch, watching avidly

Funny how being ill can be useful sometimes. *high fives*

(I remember casting about for literally anyone talking about the drama here on DW, when hardly anyone did. And I remember how hard it was to find posts that were positive about the drama. So glad we found each other! And a whole community of fans.)

Hee! *high fives*

And I remember how hard it was to find posts that were positive about the drama.

Oh, yes! It was probably the trash-talking that made me hesitate to start it. I was expecting really low production values, going by what people were saying.

So glad we found each other! And a whole community of fans.

*CLINGS* (If you hadn't suggested starting this comm, where would we be?)

I don't remember what I'd heard before I watched, which may be for the best. *g*

Where would we be, indeed! So glad to be here. :D

<3 <3 <3

Aww, I don't think I'd seen your first post before.

I'd already tried a few other new things here and there, but none of them hit.

Yeah, me too. Fandoms are very rare for me, so I often try things I've heard of on the off-chance, even when I'm 99% sure they won't work out.

I still can't believe you watched the whole thing in 2 days! 30 hours of TV!!

I was so utterly delighted by the time travel, and so pleased not to be spoiled for it. :D :D :D

Yeah. A lot of the time I try to watch something and it turns out to not be for me after all, but even when it is and I fully enjoy it, it's not that often that I actually become fannish about it.

30 hours of TV!!

I KNOW!!!!! But I couldn't make myself stop.

The time travel is THE BEST. :D

Can you remember where and how you first heard about Guardian? Why did it catch your eye?
It was all

tinny's fault lol I remember seeing a lot of icons she made from the show and Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu looked so hot, so I asked her about it and decided to give it a chance.

Did you start with the drama or the novel? Which is your main focus now (or do you love them both)?
I started with the drama, never read the novel and I have no idea how different from the show it is.

When did you start, and how long did it take you to watch/read all the way through, the first time?
It was around the time COVID started, so I guess early 2020. It took me about 2 months to finish it, but it would have been 1 month if it wasn't for the annoying ads on Viki lol

What particularly grabbed you?
Definitely the chemistry between the main couple. I'm not a fan of a censored romance and I didn't think I would actually stick with the show until the end, but the chemistry between Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong was unbeliavable and definitely enough for me to ignore all the bad things like the CGI and the stupid ending.

Did you make any reaction posts as you watched or read? If so, feel free to quote or link them here.
Nope.

Ahh, icons are such good promo tools, and

tinny's are always gorgeous! *g*

It took me about 2 months to finish it, but it would have been 1 month if it wasn't for the annoying ads on Viki lol

Ha, yes. Every time I try watching something on Viki, I end up subscribing within a few episodes. I have no patience with ads. But Guardian would be worth persisting with, if anything was.

Definitely the chemistry between the main couple.

Yesssssss! :D :D :D (*fights you over the quality of the ending, which I love* ;-p)

I know I saw gifs on tumblr and had no idea what the show was about or even what genre it was. xD I think I sort of assumed it was steampunk or something? Never got enough context to figure out why I might be interested in it until I got on dreamwidth, stumbled across Write Every Day, and started seeing

trobadora and

china_shop talking about it all the time. So then, after MDZS got me into cnovels and cdramas, it was a name I recognised and there were resources for looking it up!

I read the book first, then watched the show. I like them both; they're noticeably different stories! Because I see more chatter about the show, it's more in my mind. But, honestly, the worldbuilding and characterization between the two are different enough that I don't think it's worth comparing which I like better; I like them for different reasons.

It did not take me long to read the novel. I love supernatural mysteries and the mythology stuff and so it was very much my jam. It took longer to watch the show, because I was watching with my now-ex-girlfriend, but hey that meant keeping momentum was easy, because we both thought it was a fun watch.

I wrote about reading the book when I finished it, and then I liveblogged watching the show! :D

I should read the new official translation of the novel at some point; it sounds like it'd be a better/smoother experience than the fan translation I had access to when I initially read it.

Hee! So happy to have played a part in bringing you into the fandom. ♥

I know I saw gifs on tumblr and had no idea what the show was about or even what genre it was. xD

*nodnodnod* So few of the gifsets focused on the Dixing-powers side of things, which made it very hard to tell.

So then, after MDZS got me into cnovels and cdramas, it was a name I recognised and there were resources for looking it up!

\o/ This vindicates one of our early decisions re this comm -- to make it more of a noticeboard than a centralised keep-everything-in-one-place comm. Part of that was about encouraging people to discuss Guardian in their own spaces, so their friends might have their interest piqued. :-)

I love your liveblogging posts! Such great thoughts, and I especially appreciate your contextualising the drama with the novel. <3

I was vaguely aware of Guardian through Tumblr posts. I saw it being reblogged and thought it looked interesting, but I remember being kind of confused because I had zero context of what the story was about so seeing posts where Ye Old Haixing times and modern day had me curious as to what the plot was about. Then one day I decided eh, why not start with the first episode and see how that goes? Well, right from the prologue I was intrigued because it was like "what is this, aliens?! am I watching the right drama?" and my intrigue grew even more as the first episode went on, so I just continued watching to figure out what was going on. And from then I was hooked. I began watching early 2022, and it became kind of a nightly event with each episode.

What grabbed me was the story and the characters. I enjoyed the cases they dealt with, too, but the overall story between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei is what got to me, especially the handling of the time loop/time paradox which added so much more to their love story. Additionally, the world-building they had to Frankenstein together due to changing things from the novel due to censorship shouldn't have worked, and yet it did.

And also Shen Wei. I love him so much, and the discovery of Zhu Yilong in general.

I started with the drama first, and mainly focus on that at the moment. I was aware of it being based on the novel, since I saw posts referencing the differences and the changes made and some fanfic I've come across feature some things from the novel as well. I have the first volume of the official English translation of the novel, which I started but I'm waiting until all the volumes are out so I can dive right into it proper.

I've only made one post that was after watching the drama to give my thoughts and overall reaction, but it's essentially just me gushing about it. ;)

because I had zero context of what the story was about so seeing posts where Ye Old Haixing times and modern day had me curious as to what the plot was about.

Haha, yeah. I've had people assume it was wuxia based on screencaps/gifs from Ye Olde Haixing Era. The combination of images from both timelines must have been very confusing! :D :D :D

Well, right from the prologue I was intrigued because it was like "what is this, aliens?! am I watching the right drama?"

Ahh, that's awesome!

What grabbed me was the story and the characters. I enjoyed the cases they dealt with, too, but the overall story between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei is what got to me, especially the handling of the time loop/time paradox which added so much more to their love story.

So much YES to all of this! *high-fives you*

And thanks so much for linking to your post -- that was delightful! I especially love your thoughts about the timeloop and the ending. 100% agreed on both counts!! :DDD

the world-building they had to Frankenstein together due to changing things from the novel due to censorship shouldn't have worked, and yet it did.

Right? They were working under such constraints, and they did so much with it - they really made it all work for them. :D

And 100% agreed with everything about the time loop, I love it so.

I was aware of Guardian as the Cdrama people had gotten into a year or so before (those same) people started reblogging Untamed things on tumblr. Via a watch group I watched Untamed and really liked it, but the group didn't usually watch dramas so with my interest now piqued I decided to try to find other Cdramas to watch and remembered Guardian and tracked it down to watch maybe 5 or 6 months later. I think I watched all of it in maybe a week or two? I've since read an online translation I found of the novel (but not any of the extras, I've heard there's one that "fixed" the drama's ending but never stumbled across it)

I was immediately taken by Zhao Yunlan and Bai Yu's portrayal of him and still find him the most interesting part of canon. And I will forever thank censorship for not allowing smoking so changing the book's canon cigarettes to those lollipops, that was utterly brilliant.

Being on the hunt for more Cdramas after The Untamed makes so much sense. Yay! And wow, you watched it fast! :-D

*high fives you very much for the Zhao Yunlan focus*

And I will forever thank censorship for not allowing smoking so changing the book's canon cigarettes to those lollipops, that was utterly brilliant.

Hee, yes, INSPIRED!! (His "I need something in my mouth" line, omg!) :DDD

I'm really amazed how well they incorporated the lollipops into the story, from just the replacement of the cigarette to the constant fiddling with something to the 'here, try this' scene to the damned wrapper. The writers were so so so amazing and took that limitation (no smoking) and turned it into a ton of different little bits and bobs and additions and stories.

THIS!!!!!! It's built into the drama so well, they really thought about what they could do with it. I love it so much that they made the lollipops such an essential part of the drama with the lollipop wrapper - built right into its history!

Yesssss, it's so good! (How do I not have a lollipop icon??)

(LOL, imagine if they'd stuck with smoking, and Shen Wei had put a cigarette butt in his pendant. /o\)

LOL, not the same vibe at all! *g*

I came in to Guardian through a funny back door--I was reading fic by raven|singlecrow, whose writing I like enough to read some stuff fandom-blind, and they have a couple of Guardian fics which I read and liked and wondered what the hell canon this was anyway. Googling led me to a) extrapenguin's entertaining and thoughtful rewatch posts, then in progress, and b) images of the cast. The Black-Cloaked Envoy's eyes and Professor Shen's straight back were enough to get me further interested, and then I finally got around to watching the drama itself (a huge step for me, a mostly non-visual-media person). I couldn't make the English subtitles work, so I watched the whole thing in Chinese, which I had not studied at that point... .
I did make a series of reaction posts, to be found here from the bottom up. Then as now, the biggest draw for me was Shen Wei, who is as much my type as it gets: stoic and vulnerable, dignified and sardonic, devoted and drop-dead beautiful. (And powered by Zhu Yilong's acting and his good looks, a wonderful introduction to the joy of his work. Plus while Zhao Yunlan is not as much my type, I love him as a character and that's very much down to Bai Yu's gifts as well.)
As I got further into the drama and discussions thereof, I also ended up very much involved in the worldbuilding, especially the parts that are only hinted at about Dixingren in Haixing and the implications there about immigration and cultural issues and the difficult relations therein. (Also, I'm probably the only person whose favorite character, after Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, is Zhao Xinci; he grabbed me good and hard too and I'm still not sure why.)

Googling led me to a) extrapenguin's entertaining and thoughtful rewatch posts, then in progress

Oh, that's awesome! I had no idea that was how you'd found it via fic and meta. (I take it you're not spoiler-averse, then? *g*)

and then I finally got around to watching the drama itself (a huge step for me, a mostly non-visual-media person).

\o/!! (I'm so glad you did. <3)

I couldn't make the English subtitles work, so I watched the whole thing in Chinese, which I had not studied at that point... .

Wow! How much sense did you manage to make of it?

Then as now, the biggest draw for me was Shen Wei, who is as much my type as it gets: stoic and vulnerable, dignified and sardonic, devoted and drop-dead beautiful.

♥ ♥ ♥

I also ended up very much involved in the worldbuilding, especially the parts that are only hinted at about Dixingren in Haixing and the implications there about immigration and cultural issues and the difficult relations therein.

Yessss! I love all that, too (as well as worldbuilding about Dixing generally) -- and it's such a glorious feature of your fic. :D

Also, I'm probably the only person whose favorite character, after Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, is Zhao Xinci

I'm not very good at ranking them, but as you know, he's one of my favourites, too. *high fives you*

P.S. Thanks so much for linking to your posts! *opens in a tab*

Edited 2024-03-11 03:10 (UTC)

(I take it you're not spoiler-averse, then? *g*)
Yes and no--if something bad's going to happen I kind of want to know about it, I don't like getting blindsided!

How much sense did you manage to make of it?
Enough! I had some misunderstandings, but I could always go consult the rewatch posts etc. if I needed clarification.

<3 <3 <3

*nodnod* I get that.

That's so impressive!!

I couldn't make the English subtitles work, so I watched the whole thing in Chinese, which I had not studied at that point...

Oh, wow. That must have been quite an adventure, especially with all the terminology around Dixing and dark energy and all that! I take it you were reading the Chinese subs -- did you already know most of the characters from Japanese?

Also, I'm probably the only person whose favorite character, after Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, is Zhao Xinci

He might be in more like fourth place for me, with Chu Shuzhi in between...

I take it you were reading the Chinese subs -- did you already know most of the characters from Japanese?
Yes and yes, and of course I could follow along with rewatch posts etc. for help. I had some funny misunderstandings--the one that sticks with me is Zhao Yunlan saying to Shen Wei 别怪我！ which I know now means "don't blame me," only in Japanese, for some reason, 怪我 means "injury" and I read it as "don't get hurt"...

which I know now means "don't blame me," only in Japanese, for some reason, 怪我 means "injury"

Oh no! That is evil! *giggles*

I couldn't make the English subtitles work, so I watched the whole thing in Chinese, which I had not studied at that point...

I know you mentioned that before, but I'm still so amazed and impressed that you not only did that, but pulled it off well enough to enjoy it!

I love how so many of us were drawn by Shen Wei, but not quite in the same way. And I'm so grateful for the introduction to both Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu; I adore them both.

also ended up very much involved in the worldbuilding, especially the parts that are only hinted at about Dixingren in Haixing and the implications there about immigration and cultural issues and the difficult relations therein

Yes! All of that is a huge part of why I fell so hard for the drama, and why I'm still so in love.

you not only did that, but pulled it off well enough to enjoy it!
Well, not in a void! Lots of English resources to back up my understanding, mostly here <3

I love how so many of us were drawn by Shen Wei, but not quite in the same way. And I'm so grateful for the introduction to both Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu; I adore them both.
Yes! On all counts.

Sometime in late 2018/early 2019, some folks on my Dreamwidth talked about falling hard for a show called Guardian. I'd never heard of it and assumed it was a U.S. cop or secret agent show (no idea why I made this assumption, lol). Then in Feb. 2019 I was at a fan/slash con, Escapade, where

bonibaru's "Heartlines" vid was shown in the vidshow. I didn't attend the vidshow but immediately afterward, no less than 3 friends sought me out to tell me "this show looks like something you'd like!" :D I watched the vid later and thought, yeah, this looks interesting and gosh, those men are gorgeous. <3

It wasn't until late June 2019 that I got around to watching it. I'd just bought a Roku for my TV and was poking around in the YouTube app and remembered there was a show called Guardian. I watched all of it in 5 days. I was *immediately* hooked. I think I watched the last 8 episodes in one night, staying up horrendously late and bawling my eyes out at the ending (which I find incredibly moving, emotional, beautiful, and fitting to the life-or-death, save-the-world high stakes of the storyline). As I told someone afterward: "I didn't know what to expect and it was nothing I would've expected." I'd watched some HK dramas and fair amount of J-dramas and K-dramas, but had never seen anything like this.

I started rewatching it almost immediately, and every time I rewatch it I find something new or see something in a different way. Part of that is the richness and details of the story and part of that is watching with improved translated subtitles (the ones on YouTube back then were pretty rough, though I give all love to the fan translators who did their best!!)...and understanding slightly more Mandarin than I did back then. XD

I've only read a few chapters of the novel and two of the extras (in fan translation) and found it very different from the drama in ways that didn't grab me. I don't rule out reading it in full at some point, but for now, the drama gives me what I love.

Edited 2024-03-11 02:43 (UTC)

I watched the vid later and thought, yeah, this looks interesting and gosh, those men are gorgeous. <3

Ha, another person recruited by a vid. \o/ (The show is so very viddable!!)

I watched all of it in 5 days. I was *immediately* hooked.

Wow, that's fast! Kudos! And I love your thoughts about the ending. +1000!

and every time I rewatch it I find something new or see something in a different way. Part of that is the richness and details of the story and part of that is watching with improved translated subtitles (the ones on YouTube back then were pretty rough, though I give all love to the fan translators who did their best!!)...and understanding slightly more Mandarin than I did back then. XD

That's such a good point about the subtitles! I get more out of rewatches because of the time loop affecting the early episodes in ways that are opaque to a first-time viewer (all of Shen Wei's mysterious feelings!!), but you're right, there's the technical level, too, where I just understand more of what's going on, thanks to, yeah, clearer subs and having a wealth of meta discussion under my belt. (The original subs will always have a place in my heart, though. Some of that wording is embedded deeply in the way I view the show.)

I'm so fascinated by everyone's routes to get here. <3 <3 <3

the ending (which I find incredibly moving, emotional, beautiful, and fitting to the life-or-death, save-the-world high stakes of the storyline)

Yes! So much love!

(I don't remember now what spoilers exactly I had before I watched the first time, but I do know I'd heard the ending was bad, so I was bracing myself for something terrible. And got something glorious instead. I was very sleep-deprived by the time I reached episode 40, but I was staring at it with hearts in my eyes nevertheless. *g*)

It was in 2020 I think. I saw pictures of the great beauty Shen Wei and heard that he has a secret identity as a masked warrior. That was more than enough to convince me to watch this XD
I read the novel only after finishing the drama, which is very unusual for me. They are both very dear to me 💜

"A high quality drug" indeed. Well put XD

Hee! Great to hear the secret identity drew you. I don't really remember how much I knew about the drama going in, but I did know about Shen Wei's double identity, and that - along with the aesthetics of his Envoy look - was definitely a draw. :D

I'm so glad you found the right things to draw you in! (I'm pretty sure I didn't know anything about secret identities.) I love how the show somehow manages to be all things to all people. :D :D :D

They are both very dear to me 💜

Yay! I love that "why not both?" approach. :D

❤❤❤
My standard approach to everything :D

Ahhh I loved reading this! I know this is a short reply but I just wanted to squee at your story about how you found and fell in love with Guardian! It was awesome to read :D

Questions
Can you remember where and how you first heard about Guardian? Why did it catch your eye? - A Guardian fanvid popped up on my youtube feed!

Did you start with the drama or the novel? Which is your main focus now (or do you love them both)? - Drama drama drama! :D I have read part of the novel, but the drama is definitely my favorite flavor :D

When did you start, and how long did it take you to watch/read all the way through, the first time?
What particularly grabbed you? - Oh I don't know if I remember how long it took me to watch. I do remember binge-watching it though, so it was probably two weeks (alas work and RL slowed some of my binge-watching down LOL).

Did you make any reaction posts as you watched or read? If so, feel free to quote or link them here - I did not, I wasn't on dreamdwidth or social media at that time LOL. Guardian is actually what threw me onto the social media sites and dreamdwidth XD XD

I loved this discussion topic! Squee squee! *scurries back to RL*

Hee! I love that fanvids are such great recruitment tools. :D

Do you remember which vid it was?

Oooh I wish I could remember! I went looking for it on youtube but I couldn't find it! I just remember it had a sad feeling to it which had made me google the ending, which then had me resist for a few months because ENDING.

But then I just watched it and the rest is history :D

Ahh, thanks so much, you! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. <3 <3 <3

Another fanvid recruitee! Yay! *high fives you* :D

but the drama is definitely my favorite flavor :D

Hee! *hearts*

I do remember binge-watching it though, so it was probably two weeks (alas work and RL slowed some of my binge-watching down LOL).

That counts as binge-watching in my book! I felt like I was bingeing it, and it took me a month, lol!

Guardian is actually what threw me onto the social media sites and dreamdwidth XD

Oh, that's awesome! I'm so happy it brought you here!! <333

I think an insomniac friend on LJ recommended it, and she usually recommends great stuff, so I somehow found a way to get hold of it, despite not having a proper internet TV at the time.
I later got hold of the novel, but I never got through it. I found it weird and heavy-going, and didn't like how anything romantic was treated as a big shocking joke - seemed very unsubtle after the TV series.
I think it was a couple of years ago, but time flies so fast these days (I'm 64). I watched one or two at a time, generally - I'm not a binge-watcher.
I loved all the main characters. I think I've watched in maybe 3 times right through? My SO likes it as well, which helps! And I've read/listened to quite a lot of fic. I especially like tinypinkmouse's podfics.

Yay for successful recs! And great to hear your SO also likes it.

I love all the main characters, too. The entire drama is so much fun. I remember my complete glee when I first watched it - it just really hit the spot.

Aw, reliable recs are the best! So glad you managed to get hold of it, yay!

Ha, I know exactly what you mean about time flying -- can we just slow things down for a sec, please?! And yes, the main characters are all so good.

That's very cool that your SO likes it and you watch it together, too. :D :D :D

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Discussion: how did you first hear about Guardian, and what made you decide to watch?

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